The Write Start

Write of Spring

Full disclosure here: some of my ideas are real duds.

Like the first time I made Mother's Day gifts with Jack, for the grandmothers, Great Grandma, and the aunts. We made mosaic flower pots by dipping tissue paper squares in glue and pasting them all around terracotta pots. Then we planted flowers in each one. Who could ask for a cheerier gift?

We did the project a few days in advance to allow for drying time. But between the wet glue, the moisture from the plant seeping through the porous pot, and remarkably humid weather, our pots never thoroughly dried. Oops. Not to disappoint my young gift-maker, we went ahead and handed out the gooey gifts at Mother's Day brunch, to everyone's sticky surprise. Oh well.

Another Mother's Day, I had the bright idea to make stepping stones for the mothers and aunties and grandmas. Of course, seven months pregnant at the time, it should have occurred to me that hauling around a 60 pound bag of cement would be, er, challenging. I had to get a little help in that department, but then we were off and running. We mixed concrete; added sea glass, broken tiles, and shells; and stamped names and special messages. And, having learned from past mistakes, we left more than ample drying time.

Once again, I failed to anticipate the gift exchange. A blunder, to say the least.

Our annual Mother's Day brunch was taking place at a waterfront restaurant in our town, which was further complicated by the fact that my husband thought it would be fun to take our little boat there to dock and dine.

So now, imagine me, belly-out-to-there, three-year-old in tow, lugging our gifts down to the marina, carrying each heavy stone across the gangway, and handing it over the side of a bobbing boat. (Note to readers: it is NEVER a good idea to fill a boat with stones. Not at all.)

I'll spare you the details of how these stones got off the boat and distributed in a crowded restaurant. I'll leave that one to your imagination.

But, if nothing else, these two disasters inspired me in my quest to create the ideal handmade Mother's Day gift: cheerful and portable. As I pondered this, I remembered looking through some seed catalogs with my son and seeing a product called "seed tape." It is essentially a strip of paper with seeds glued onto it. You plant the tape into the ground in its entirety, instead of planting each little seed one at a time.

Seed tape is made from seeds, biodegradable paper, and water-soluble glue. Hmmm. It occurred to me that we could use similar materials to easily make seed-embellished greeting cards. Construction paper is biodegradable. School glue is water soluble. And seeds can be used to spell out a heartfelt word like, "Mom," "Grow," or "Love."

We made a couple of test cards, planted them in the dirt, and were ecstatic when we had seedlings within days. Talk about the gift that keeps on giving -- this is it! And, if you make these with perennial seeds, your favorite Moms will actually have a year-after-year reminder of your good wishes!

What could be better? Oh yeah, the fact that they slip neatly into my bag -- no fuss, no muss.

 

Here's the basic how-to...

Materials:

Construction Paper

Non-toxic school glue (we use Elmer's)

1 or 2 packets of seeds (we found ours at botanicalinterests.com)

Small dish

Crayons

Popsicle stick

Tape

1. Fold a piece of construction paper in half. With crayons, draw a picture or write a greeting on the inside of the card.

2. On the front of the card, write a word or a name using a thin line of glue. Or, for pre-writers, make a scribbly design with glue, or just simply make glue polka dots.

3. Open the seed packet carefully from the bottom. Pour seeds into dish. (Set seed packet aside; you'll need it later.) We've made these cards with cheery Sunflowers, the aptly-named Baby's Breath, and colorful Cosmos (an ideal flower for busy Moms -- the care instructions say these flowers actually thrive on neglect!).

4. Sprinkle seeds on top of the glue. Gently shake off the excess. Set the card aside to dry completely.

6. Slide a popsicle stick into the seed packet, and fasten it on the inside with a piece of tape. Tape this plant marker to the back of the card.

7. The card recipient should plant the card, seed side up, following the instructions on the plant marker regarding planting depth, when to plant, exposure, and watering. Trust me, they will be delighted to see that this card actually grows!

Let me know if you try this one!

What's Up, Buttercup?

I have such distinct memories of doing the "butter test" when I was a child.

And, since we spied the first buttercups of the Spring on our walk the other day, Jack initiated Gracie into the ritual.

It's simply this: You hold a buttercup below someone's chin. If their chin turns yellow, they like butter. (Um, yeah... who doesn't!) 

The secret yellow glow is either the result of sunlight reflecting off the super-shiny petals of the buttercup, or, as I speculated, magic.

However you look at it, it's a ritual that's definitely worth passing on.

And I really do believe there is magic in those little moments shared, especially the ones that bring you back to your own childhood. Don't you?

Herb 102

Remember these herbs?

Well, like all growing things, they required a little support as they developed. So, we continued the old-school theme by staking them with yardsticks. It's been cool because the kids can really measure their growth for real. I hear exclamations like, "Mom! The dill grew two inches overnight!"

What a simple (and delicious) little math lesson.

Greetings from Camp Mom

Dear Parents,

I'm writing to you from CAMP MOM. Wish you were here! The activities are super fun, the drinks are ice cold, and, at the end the day, the kids always wind up covered in mud from head to toe. Lots and lots of mud. But isn't that precisely why garden hoses were invented?

Here's a list of some of the classic summertime activities on our CAMP MOM itinerary:

* backyard camping (with tents)

* picnics (love 'em!)

* lemonade stands

* fishing

* skipping rocks

* little red wagon rides

* sprinklers

* sidewalk chalk

* bubbles

* squirt toys

* kite-flying

* impromptu parades (complete with marching, flag-waving, and musical instruments)

* swinging on the swings

* art al fresco

* sandbox

* spraying our fire/garden hose

* bike riding

* scooter riding

* swimming

* catching (and releasing) fireflies

* outdoor movie nights

* campfires in our fire pit

* sunrise (aka 8 AM) yoga

* practicing cartwheels

* hula-hooping

* jumping rope

* playing leap frog

* playing hopscotch

* playing go-to games (like: red light, green light; what time is it mr. shark?; red rover; mother may i?; freeze tag; hide and seek; steal the bacon; SPUD; ringalario)

* whiffle ball

* badminton

* horseshoes

* obstacle courses

* harvesting our backyard garden

* beach combing

* sandcastles

* hanging wash on our child-sized clothesline

* playing pick-up games of basketball & soccer

* tossing a football

* relay races

* sack races

* three-legged races

* egg-and-spoon races

* drinking "bug juice"

* making s'mores

* eating fresh berries with homemade, hand-shaken whipped cream

* playing tin-can-telephone

* renovating a cardboard box

* building a clubhouse

* building a fort

* playing marbles

* playing jacks

* scavenger hunts

* treasure hunts (bury a treasure. mark it with an X. draw a map. say AARGH.)

* writing postcards

* tucking messages into bottles

* writing in the sand

* "painting" the fence with brushes and buckets of water

* water balloons

* making dandelion wishes

* making daisy chains

* making (more) mudpies

* nature walks

* birdwatching

* cloud-watching

* star-gazing

* sleeping bags

* a good, old-fashioned hootenanny (aka sing-a-long)

* family dance parties

* (surprise) ice cream runs (in pajamas)

* bedtime stories by flashlight

*** sweet dreams of an endless summer ***

I'm sure I forgot something... what's on your summer itinerary?

Keep in touch,

Jen

Herb 101

Here's a little old-school-meets-the-garden kind of idea. We put a light coat of chalkboard paint on terracotta flower pots. Instant plant labels. And an herbalicious lesson too. The best part? I think they look too cool for school.

And, really. Can you ever have enough chalkboard goodness?